View full sizeMalachy, last year's Best in Show winner at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, returns to the show Monday but as a special guest. His owner, David Fitzpatrick, is an Adams County resident.Wire services

Malachy is attending, but as a guest of honor.

And of course his itinerary is just filled in the days leading up to the show: there are charity events to attend, the lighting of the Empire State Building (in the show’s colors), a reception at Bloomingdales, a benefit, and, oh yeah, one mustn’t forget an appearance on CNN on Friday morning with Soledad O’Brien.

More than 200 dogs from Pennsylvania alone will grace the famous green carpet.

Malachy has spent the year on the throne getting all the attention -- at charity events and benefits -- but Fitzpatrick, who practically devotes his life to his dogs, doesn’t begrudge the attention bestowed on his four-legged friend.

Fitzpatrick, who has been showing dogs for 42 years, lives on a five-acre spread in East Berlin in Adams County, where he tends to his labor of love -- the hours upon hours of grooming, exercising and caring for his dogs.

Don’t think for a minute that he gets rich doing it. Malachy may have won top prize at Westminster -- but received not a penny for the recognition.

“It’s not lucrative at all,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s had a busy year. But nobody’s ever paid him to appear anywhere. We do everything for charity. There’s no money coming back for Malachy’s appearances.”

TV shows and movies often depict large purses attached to dog shows. That, said Fitzpatrick, is a rarity.

“He won a lot of beautiful trophies and ribbons but there is not one penny awarded to dog or handler,” he said. “It is something we do because we love it not because we are getting money back for showing the dog.”

To appreciate the commitment behind showing a dog like Malachy, consider the time - and financial - investment necessary.

A professional dog handler, on average, will charge $600 to show a dog at Westminster; and that doesn’t include all the travel, lodging expenses, plus day-to-day care of the dogs.

Grooming, Steinrock said, can be a matter of days.

“You bathe one day. Comb out the next day, then wait. Then you do a final trim, then you have to wait and fluff before go into the ring,” Steinrock said. “It’s a lot of work especially for a coated breed. It might be a pint sized dog but there is a lot of hair on that dog.”

“A lot of these show dogs they are treated like superstars,” she said. “They have to be exercised, conditioned. Most are bathed at least once a week with only the best products to keep skin and coat in shape. Diet is of course tailored to the dog. It’s a whole recipe of things that goes into creating a great show dog.”

Show dogs are typically some of the most pampered creatures on the planet -- their joyful exuberance on the green carpet an indication of how happy and healthy these canines are.

Yet, over the years, partly fueled by a misconception that shows dogs are abused -- starved and locked in crates all day by owners -- animal rights groups have leveled protests against them and their parade.

In 2012, the organization reportedly spent in excess of $100,000 in advertising in the New York area, lambasting Westminster - and its participants - for promoting dog breeding at the detriment of animal shelters and rescue missions.

“Intentionally breeding dogs for their looks while millions are dying for lack of good homes in extremely crowded shelters? The American Kennel Club just doesn't get it,” PETA said in a statement. “And neither does the USA network, which broadcasts the AKC's Westminster Dog Show every February.”

PETA pointed out that: “....breeding dogs in order to create a look that negatively affects their health, temperament, and quality of life is totally not cool. After all, one in four purebred dogs is plagued with a serious genetic problem.

So USA, how about being a good network? Sit. Listen. Roll over. And fetch a few reruns of Law and Order to replace that dastardly dog show …”

Fitzpatrick doesn’t buy PETA’s message.

“It’s great if people want to rescue dogs from shelters but as Americans we have the right to enjoy the company of pure-breed dogs, if that’s what we want,” he said. “I think there’s plenty of people around for the dogs.”

“If you research some of these groups a lot are big money- making groups they have officers that are making millions of dollars a year,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s a bunch of crap.”

Steinrock said that were PETA’s demands to be met, pure-breed dogs would become extinct.

“Ultimately if you put a ban on breeding and show dogs, then everyone would have a mutt,” she said. “Is there anything wrong with that? No, but these dogs are bred for a particular purpose, a job, a temperament.”

Fitzpatrick said he has never been unwilling to take back a dog he raised.

“That’s not putting any kind of pressure on any shelter,” he said. “I don’t care what age the dog was I would always take the dog back.”

"The really responsible breeders like Fitzpatrick, he’s never going to run a classified ad to sell his puppy,” she said. “I can assure you of that. He doesn’t have to. He probably has waiting list a mile long.”

Of the more than 200 dogs from Pennsylvania, Fitzpatrick will be showing Roger, also a Pekingese and a distant relative of Malachy.

“Roger’s grandfather is a double great-grandfather to Malachy.

You’ll have to do the math,” Fitzpatrick said.

Roger’s chances?

"He’s a really nice Pekingese,” Fitzpatrick said. “Hopefully he will do something. He’s not experienced enough to be competitive for Best in Show. He’s sort of a new kid on the block. Hopefully he’ll do something but he’s not going to fare like Malachy did in last couple of years."

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